Mastermind

4 - Rebirth

"So Ash is doing ok?" One of Chloe's friends asks.

"Yep, but I wish he would take better care of himself, he's gonna get himself killed." She rambled on as they walked into the main school building.

"Sounds to me like you have a crush!" The other nudged.

"How!? I basically just called him a moron! That doesn't seem like romance to me! That's actually the polar opposite! If I were to like someone, which I don't! It would be someone with a little more BRAIN!..."

"I think we got through to her..." one girl whispered to the other whilst Chloe ranted. They both giggled and all separated to different hallways.

"C'mon, we need to make sure it's safe to stay here!" Ash said whilst still filming the situation. His voice echoed around the walls and ceiling, which made the situation even more unnerving. Pikachu then revealed himself from Ash's shirt, poking his head out next to Ash's. They walked towards the darkened corner and end of the stone path. For a natural cave, this place seemed polished and perfect. The path was smooth and yet still grippy, there was no natural light yet the room was lit fine, and contrasting the outdoor weather, the temperature was decently warm.

Korrina followed Ash as he started to edge through the dark area. The path continued into a tunnel and then... down. More blue and green ripples were portrayed on the walls of the tunnel, implying more water. And full-filling this assumption, the tunnel ended and another pool of water, deeper this time, presented itself on the floor.

"Why would it just end like this?" Korrina thought out loud.

"It doesn't. This obviously isn't a normal cave, so someone must have placed this pool here," Ash spoke, looking down at the clear water. "I'm gonna go in, see if it leads anywhere!"

"Ash! What if you get lost or disoriented! You'll drown!" His friend contradicted.

"Listen, this might be a clue as to why the weather is whack. I need to do this!" He took off his hat, then handed it to Korrina who was standing next to him, followed by his phone. The boy grabbed Pikachu gently and placed him on the ground. "You have to stay here,
bud! Korrina, mind keeping an eye on him?"

She nodded and carried on looking at the boy stripping next to her, slowly starting to flip the phone around and film Ash. He took off his vest, shirt, after that his shoes, and socks. Korrina was slightly turned on, she had never really been so close to someone and then for him to undress in front of her. Ash started to dip his feet into the pool and stopped.

"It's warm. Lukewarm!" He said surprised.

"Th-there must be a hot spring somewhere!" She said as her face began to heat up, still holding his clothes in her arms.

Ash then sat on the side of the pool and hopped in, keeping his face above the water. "Listen, whatever I find on the other side, if there even is one, I need you to stay here. I can't risk you getting hurt, so just wait for me to come back!" The boy instructed whilst holding onto the side for support.

The girl above him nodded and watched as he took a long breath and slowly disappeared into the unknown. Pikachu let out a nervous sigh before watching his partner disappear. Ash swam further down into the darkness and, using his fuzzy vision, started to manoeuvre his way around confusing walls and boulders, eventually seeing another light cut its way into the water. He swam up towards the light only to find himself in a similar area. He could tell he was someplace different by the slight geometrical alters in the surroundings, granted he had also moved quite far underwater and also had the fact that neither Korrina or Pikachu could be seen.

He moved further from the water, still in his boxers. Realising that the tunnel was starting to open up, the boy began to walk a bit faster. He could start to see a bit better, more grotto light illuminating his vision. The tunnel started to become more of a hallway, of course made of stone. The trainer was now moulding a jog. Hallway widening, light almost blinding, running towards a mysterious source of curiosity.

The room suddenly opened up into a huge grotto. A large path reaching through the centre, and steaming pools of water lying tranquil at the sides. Ash stood in awe at the entrance, staring at the "natural" cave, but before he could reach another breath, a large explosion erupted in the ceiling. A small opening in the gradient of the rocky wall and ceiling was visible after the smoke had disappeared. Soon after, a large ball hovered through it, then floated at the end of the path opposite Ash. The ball stared at the hole it had come through, then a blur shot in and around the cave.

Due to the freezing air rushing through the gaping hole in the wall, the trainer shivered as he was still in just his boxers. Once he was finally able to see right, he noticed the floating sphere was a Glalie, the face Pokemon. It frantically turned around its spherical body in all directions, trying in an attempt to see the blur in full focus. Finally, what Ash could only presume was shards of ice were thrown at the Pokemon from every angle, causing white smoke to protrude from the victim.

As the rising smoke cleared around the Glalie, the blur, now distinguishable as blue stopped in the middle of the cave. Ash turned ecstatic to realise the thing that was fighting the face Pokemon was none other than his Greninja!

"Greninja!" The boy shouted, no longer caring about the cold or the menacing Glalie behind his friend.